End of Knight
by Kate Davis
Summary: Padme has not seen Anakin for many months and is hidden away due to a series of assassination attempts. While a war seems increasingly likely, she longs for her husband's affection and comfort.


Title: END OF KNIGHT  
Author: Kate Davis  
Category: Angst/Romance  
Rating: PG  
Archive: Please email me for permission before archiving.  
Time Frame: After Episode 1.  
Summary: Padme has not seen Anakin for many months and is hidden away due to a series of assassination attempts. While a war seems increasingly likely, she longs for her husband's affection and comfort.  
Disclaimer: All characters are the property of George Lucas and company. This piece of fan fiction was created purely for entertainment purposes and no one made any money from it. No infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Where is he?" she wondered out loud, nervously pacing up and down her quarters, twisting her fingers together.  
  
"I'm sure he'll be here soon, Senator. He promised this time", Sabe responded, failing to hide the uncertainty in her voice.  
  
Padme looked over at Sabe, her friend and servant from her old days as Queen of Naboo, who she'd asked to be her aide when she became Naboo's representative in the Galactic Senate.  
"He's promised before."  
  
Padme arranged the velvety folds of the deep violet dress Anakin had bought her as a wedding gift and never seen her wear.  
"Thank you for waiting with me, but you can go. I don't think he's coming, it's almost sunset."  
  
"Doesn't he know what you've been going through? Doesn't he realise what's going to happen? I really thought he'd be here!" Sabe cried.  
  
"So did I. Goodnight Sabe."  
  
"I'll be in the next room if you need me. Goodnight", she crossed the room and squeezed Padme's hand before leaving her alone with her sadness.  
  
She had been confined in the upper levels of Theed palace ever since the last assassination attempt. She had begun to despise every ornate carving and every patterned fabric that surrounded her, especially in this room. And the one person who had promised to visit her many times to ease her loneliness and isolation had never come. She'd sent him numerous messages warning her husband of the increasing danger she was in, and she was sure he'd be aware that Senate and other institutions that had governed for so long were in danger of being overturned. Still he had not come to her. She'd fantasised about him landing his spacecraft on the roof of the palace and stealing her away to safety under the cover of night. Foolish dreamer, she thought.  
  
Padme stood suddenly, desperate with the need for fresh air, made her way to the blacked out doors, struggling to remove the heavy metal bolt that locked them shut.  
She opened one of the giant doors just enough for her to slip through and onto the balcony. The cool evening air brushed past her burning face and she breathed in the wonderful scents it carried up from the garden. She missed her freedom.  
The sun was just about to slip below the horizon and the sky was alight with a myriad of colours when she shivered a little in the evening air. The next thing she felt was a long brown coat being placed around her shoulders, and two hands gripping her waist.  
  
"I missed you," the familiar voice whispered, breathing his warm breath into her ear.  
  
"Anakin!" she cried, turning and reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.  
  
He closed his arms around her and held her thin frame firmly against his body until the last patch of light had disappeared from the sky and they stood in complete darkness. He pushed her back from him a little and led her back inside the room.   
Now that he could see her face he said "I'm so, so sorry Padme. I never meant to leave you for so long. But… many things have happened in this region of the galaxy. Things are changing and they're changing very quickly. There is so much to do before…"  
  
"Before what?" she asked, wiping away her tears of relief, "what is all this leading too?" She led him to the lounge and sat down.  
  
"I wish I knew, Angel, "he said, dropping down in front of her and taking her hands, "someone is planning a war against the Senate. I've been at the Jedi Temple for weeks trying to figure it all out. I always want you to remember that I love you. Whatever happens, okay? And don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."  
  
He moved to sit beside her, stroking her face before kissing her lightly on the lips. She looked into his eyes and kissed him back, uneasily at first, after weeks spent apart, and when she regained her confidence, she couldn't kiss him enough.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
She woke later that night, finally warm again in Anakin's presence and sensing that he was awake too whispered, "How long can you stay?"  
  
He pulled her close to him and replied, "Not more than a couple of days. I was lucky to escape at all; they need everybody to work on this. There is so much to do before…"  
  
"Before what?" she asked again, for the second time that evening, "I know its terrible Anakin because no one will tell me anything. Why is someone trying to kill me?"  
  
"Trying to what?"  
  
"I've already had three attempts on my life. I told you. In my messages."  
  
"What messages?"  
  
"Anakin! You replied every time and told me you'd be back within days."  
  
"Padme, I never got any messages. And I've never broken a promise to you. If I said I was going to be here, I would have been here."  
  
She released herself from him and moved to the cold side of the bed. Her mind began working overtime and a nagging thought she'd suppressed for weeks slowly began to make sense.  
  
"You've got to believe me!" he said desperately, sitting up and stroking her hair, "it was never supposed to be this way. That wasn't the deal!"  
  
She stayed facing the wall, unable to look at him. "What deal? Who are you making deals with? You know what's going to happen, don't you? They're trying to kill me because I'm your wife and they're scared that I know too."  
  
He rolled back onto the other side of the bed.  
  
"You know, don't you?" she repeated louder when he didn't answer.  
  
"Go to sleep Padme."  
  
She lay awake listening to his soft even breathing like she used to, only now she was afraid of it. The thought that Anakin might be involved with the overturn of the Senate and her allies…  
  
Eventually she must have fallen asleep, because she found herself waking the next morning. There was little light in the room, courtesy of the blacked out windows. And when she reached over to wake Anakin to ask what he was going to do now that she knew, she felt only the crisp coolness of the sheets.  
She jumped up, wrapping her gown around her, hit the main power switch and revealed what she feared.   
  
Anakin was gone.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Sabe brought her another towel to dry her eyes, and she cried forlornly into it as she had been doing all morning. Padme hadn't even been able to explain what had happened because the pain cut so deep.  
  
"Padme. I'm sorry he didn't come. But I'm he will - soon. He will come and take you away with him and you will be safe."  
  
"What do you mean?" she replied, confused, finally able to take a breath, "Anakin was here. We spent the night together. Then we argued and this morning he was gone."  
  
Sabe stood. "I'll be back in a moment." True to her word she reappeared shortly after.  
"Padme, I checked with the guards. No one came in or out since the day before yesterday. This place is completely locked down. Obi-Wan sent me a message last night though, saying he hadn't seen or heard from Anakin for almost a fortnight. He thinks he may have…"  
  
"But he was here! And, and, I think… I think he knows a lot about what's going to happen."  
  
"Padme, it must have been a dream. You just want to see him so badly."  
  
"NO! No… it wasn't a dream. It wasn't beautiful and happy and just like it used to be. He told me that killing me wasn't part of the deal."  
  
"What deal?"  
  
"I don't know!" She buried her face in the towel again. Perhaps Sabe was right. Nothing he had said made sense. Perhaps she had wanted to see him, to touch him, to hold him so badly that she had imagined it. Perhaps he knew nothing of what was going to happen. Perhaps.  
  
* * * * * * * *  
  
Epilogue  
  
Later that day she had sent Sabe away, needing time to herself. She was straightening the pillows on the bed, when her fingers brushed across something firm in one the pillowcases. She reached in and pulled out a datapadd, entered in a few commands and began to read:  
  
To my beautiful Padme,  
I am writing this while listening to your gentle breathing, just like I used to do, only this time I'm afraid. Afraid because I know that I will never hear it again.  
I have to go. What you told me last night reminded me that I'm not in control. Not yet. If I could see any other way to escape them, Angel, I would do it but I'm too involved.  
I still have rare moments when I am not their creation, such as now, when my love for you overshadows their hatred. But if I stay they will come after me and if they doubt my loyalty I will lose my life and I won't be able to save yours. Leave Naboo, Padme. Leave today if you can. Trust me. Yes, I know what's going to happen.   
They did want you dead, but I thought I had convinced them it wasn't necessary. I discovered their plan and hoped to outwit them before it came to war, but I think they may have outwitted me. I tried to tell myself I was strong enough, that I could still win. But I am trapped and I am losing myself.   
Always remember that I love you. Anakin loves you. And if their plan succeeds, know that it was not Anakin who betrayed you and the Jedi. I am becoming the one thing I was taught to oppose. And I fear the time is coming when they will strip me of my love for you and when they do, they will have complete control of me.  
  
Love, your Anakin  
  
She dropped the padd onto the bed. If the most powerful Jedi in history wasn't strong enough to resist them, what hope did the rest of the galaxy have?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
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